I hope Washington State Representative Kevin Van de Wege is watching this and putting in his two cents to President Obama to veto this pending law. Kevin and many others throughout the State have fought very hard to bring laws to the books to reduce the use and proliferation of fire retardants and other chemicals proven to be ineffective in their jobs and dangerous to the environment. Now, the Republican dominated US Congress is set to forward onto the President an extremely bad reform bill that actually reforms our ability to challenge Federal management of these chemicals. Want to do something about it? Call or write Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, Representative Derek Kilmer and President Obama and state that the Toxic Reform Bill is flawed law.
A NEW SET OF BILLS that aims to update the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act may nullify the efforts of states such as Maine and California to regulate dangerous chemicals. The Senate’s bill, passed last month, just before the holidays, is particularly restrictive. The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act — named, ironically, for the New Jersey senator who supported strong environmental protections — would make it much harder for states to regulate chemicals after the EPA has evaluated them, and would even prohibit states from acting while the federal agency is in the process of investigating certain chemicals.
The Senate’s version has some significant differences from the House bill — the TSCA Modernization Act, which passed in June — and the reconciliation process is now underway. If the worst provisions from both bills wind up in the final law, which could reach the president’s desk as soon as February, the new legislation will gut laws that have put Oregon, California, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, and Washington state at the forefront of chemical regulation.
Thanks to the Intercept, one of my favorite news websites, for bringing this to our attention.
https://theintercept.com/2016/01/11/toxic-reform-law-would-gut-state-rules-on-dangerous-chemicals/
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Kevin Van De Wege, Laws, Maria Cantwell, patty murray, Puget Sound, Toxic Reform |
